A.R. Ilamparthi’s father Ravikumar was an elated man after his 16-year-old son became India’s 90th Grandmaster, by securing his final GM norm at the Bijeljina tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.
Reacting to his feat, Ravikumar said that he was relieved that Ilamparthi had finally achieved the feat after failing to make the final norm over six tournaments since April this year. “He missed by a whisker in all those tournaments,” said Ravikumar.
The 47-year-old software engineer said that Ilamparthi could have become a GM earlier had he been able to participate in a lot of tournaments. “I have a younger son who has epilepsy, so I wasn’t able to accompany Ilamparthi all the time. Until last year, either his coach, GM Shyam Sundar, or I used to travel with him to tournaments abroad. I used to cook for him. Now, he’s able to travel on his own and I’ve taught him how to manage,” he said.
Ravikumar, who spoke to his son over the phone, said the teenager wanted to break the 2600 Elo mark and become a Super GM!